Dark Sector for April, demo likely

D3Publisher has told Eurogamer it plans to release Dark Sector in April, a little later than we had expected.

The publisher also said a demo before or around that time was "likely" but, again, exact details are still being ironed out.

It coincides with plenty of fresh information for the multiplayer side of this third-person shooter. Here your options will be split into two: Infection or Epidemic.

Infection casts one of you as protagonist Hayden and the others (up to nine) as Lasrian Troopers. The aim is to kill the infected, or Hayden, and whoever does so will become him as a fresh round begins.

Points win prizes, and are awarded for stunning, finishing or contributing to Hayden's downfall. Or by killing Troopers if you are Hayden.

Remember, Hayden will have his mutant Glaive-arm to use, all three Evolutionary powers, and access to fire, ice and electricity.

The other game-type is Epidemic. This is essentially the same as Infection but has you in two teams. One team has Hayden in it and has to protect him, the other simply has to kill him. The round starts again when he is felled, and points are awarded in a similar fashion to Infection.

Dark Sector is in development for PS3 and 360, and both will let you play Infection and Epidemic online or locally, with five maps for a spot of variation.

However, those of you with a 360 will be able to launch Quick Games, create Custom Games (altering time length, score limit, player numbers, number of bots), and take part in Ranked Games.

We had a look at Dark Sector last October and were relieved to find it trying something new. It had atmosphere, puzzle-based sections, a slower Resident Evil-like pace, and gratifying combat.

It also had rather a lot of performance issues, something Digital Extremes is hopefully using the short delay to polish.